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Saturday, November 19, 2011

Rouge d'Armani #400

One of my recent assignments was a critical research paper on Memoirs of a Geisha, and after watching the film I had a huge craving to don red lips and apply my makeup using only yachiyo and itabake brushes. While the latter two are quite impossible (though I did put in an order for a yachiyo), the red lip urge was easy to satiate. Since I've been on an Armani kick lately, I picked Rouge d'Armani #400 as my color of choice.

Rouge d'Armani #400

Rouge d'Armani #400 misled me. I thought it would be more orange based on how it looked in the tube, yet it turned out to be a vivid blue red. A relief, since I've been accumulating far too many orange-reds recently.

I wouldn't have known this lipstick feathers if not for this closeup. Granted, in the picture above my lips had vestiges of lip balm on before I slapped on the color. On another testing sans balm, I noticed just the tiniest bit of feathering. Note, however, that I could only see it while straining my neck at an angle and holding the mirror two inches away from my face. It is quite impossible for anyone else to spot it.

The company promises "up to eight hours of intense color" with this lipstick. At this point of writing, I've been wearing it for four hours, all of which was spent rigorously snacking on chocolates and drinking orange juice, and the color has not budged one bit! Even the center of the lip is untouched.

(Six hours in, I ate an apple and found the center of the bottom lip slightly faded. I'm still inclined to believe the eight hour claim. It's a given that lipstick will wear off when you consume food.)

In my experience, Rouge d'Armani lipsticks wear comfortably on the lips. The formula is creamy, so the lipstick has a lot of "slip" when first applied. It will swim around your lips for a minute or two before settling down to the vibrant finish you see above. After which, the lipstick will not budge from your lips. The subtle feathering I spoke about happens from the get-go. It does not worsen throughout wear. The sheen disappears in an hour or two, which alters the finish to a semi-matte. This makes Rouge d'Armanis a great alternative to traditional matte formulas, as they do not sap moisture from my lips. For an immediate matte effect, just apply and blot lightly with a tissue.

time4beauty- thank you! I can see why this might be one of your favs. I would love to know the rest

cewek- unfortunately, I don't own an itabake brush. Also, I did state that it would be quite impossible, considering that both are face brushes and wouldn't be able to perform the detail work needed around the eye area :)

If only my life's work involves painting my face in white, I would do it in a pinch!

You look absolutely STUNNING! The eye makeup is divine and pairs so well with the bright red lips. Your look definitely points to the fact that more people should bend makeup rules (eg "never pair a bold lip with bold eyes").

You've got me at "critical research". I know it's not makeup related, but what was your paper about? As a long time lover of kimono (and somewhat geisha culture), I have mixed feelings about this film (and book). On one side I like it as a movie, on another I really don't care for it because I KNOW how all the REAL stuff should look like. I also wrote a paper on it, but it was just a short analytical paper about the movie, where I tried to convey my dual feelings about the movie.

I have this one and completely love it... this was my everyday red when during fall, then UD Revolution came, but I still prefer R d'A 400. I think this one is a true red, not much blue based, not much orange based.

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